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Exports are the basis of economic prosperity Officials opined that the exports are the basis of the economic growth and development of any country. The officials were speaking in the 7th Annual General Meeting of Export Council of Nepal (ECON) organized Wednesday with the dictum "Export Trading: backbone of Economic Prosperity." They were of the view that without promotion of the export trades, other trades like import trade and tourism also cannot flourish. However, because of ineffective implementation of the plans and lack of due concern from the government, the trade is gradually declining. Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Hari Bahadur Basnet expressed his commitment to help the business sector hit hard by the unfavorable situation in the country. He said that government is aware about the problems faced by the business sector of the country and is determined to do the needful. "After being the member of WTO and signing the SAFTA, we are working to make the necessary amendments in our laws to make it compatible with the WTO rules. Stressing on the need to diversify products and markets around the globe, Basnet said, "Without diversifying our products, Nepali business will always be trading selected products in selected markets." Chairperson of Foreign Trade Committee, FNCCI and President of Nepal Readymade Garment Association, Kiran Sakha flayed the government for its indifference attitude in export trading. "On request of Nepal, the American Democratic Secretariat had proposed a bill to the Senate for duty free and quota free access in the export of readymade garments. But because of indifference attitude of the government the bill hasn't been passed yet," Sakha said. He
further said, "When we need it, we must insist until the bill is
passed," adding, "But our government is not heeding to our
request." 'Many reintegrated women return to brothels' A sizeable number of reintegrated women from Indian brothels return to the old profession due to the lack of familial and economic support, and cordial environment in the community, experts said Wednesday. Particularly, an expert Dr. Pradip Upadhyay said this in a work paper presented in a seminar on "Best Practices on Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Trafficked Women and Girls in Nepal." "The figure of such women may not be exact as extensive research in the sector is still to be carried out," Dr Upadhyay said. "However, over 25 percent of some 1,000 Nepali women who were rescued from Indian brothels and were reintegrated, have returned to the same profession." Dr. Upadhyay, terming the trafficking problem a "cross border issue", asked for the Government's involvement in combating the problem. "Over 200,000 Nepalese girls are currently working in India. There must be joint efforts from the Nepalese and Indian governments to reintegrate them," he said. Some experts, at the same time, expressed disagreement over the data, which says, some 200,000 women are working in various Indian brothels. "The data is inappropriate, experts have been presenting the same data since the last 14 years," they said. Shanker Prasad Sharma, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission said, "The Government is serious over the issue which is a grave social problem." Experts, Dr. Arzu Deuba, Pratap Pathak, Bhanubhakta Dhakal and Pradipna Panta, among others, highlighted the importance of rehabilitation and reintegration of trafficked girls. They further stressed on the need to change the society's derogatory viewpoint with regard to them. Two non-governmental agencies, SAHARA and JIT Nepal, jointly organised the seminar in Kathmandu. nepalnews.com pd Feb 11 04 Related
News NHRC to host int'l confab on human rights The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), a signatory to the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions, is hosting the 8th annual meeting of the Forum on February 16-18 in Kathmandu, an announcement said Wednesday. "Nepal, as the host, will be the chair of the Forum until the next annual meeting (to be held elsewhere)," NHRC Chairman, Nain Bahadur Khatri announced in a press meet on Wednesday. From Nepalese side, a progress-report on the prevention of women's and girls' trafficking will be presented, Khatri said. "Our presentation will mainly focus on NHRC's role in the Government-Maoist peace process and conflict resolution," NHRC member Sushil Pyakurel said. Pyakurel, in the meantime, expressed scepticism over the participation of government side in the conference. "We have decided to invite (Nepalese) government representatives to the conference. We hope, they will come," he said. According to an NHRC statement, the conference will further discuss issues such as, anti-terrorism measures, prevention of torture, death penalty and child pornography, among others. The conference, expected to be participated in by around 100 delegates from over 25 countries, will conclude announcing joint recommendations. Nepal is hosting such a conference for the first time since it became the full member of the Forum in 2000. The
Forum, an independent non-profit organisation, was set up in 1996.
Currently, the Forum has 12 full member institutions from Australia, Fiji,
India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, the Philippines,
Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Related
News Teachers stage strikes nationwide With seven-point demands, four teachers’ organizations jointly staged dharnas (sit-ins) in front of District Education Offices across the country Wednesday. Teachers’ associations had decided to intensify the ongoing agitations after the 10th round of negotiations with the Ministry of Education on giving permanent status to temporary teachers working in public schools failed on Tuesday.
Along with the demand of permanent status to temporary teachers, they have been pressurizing the government to provide compensation to the families of the teachers victimized during the course of insurgency. The organizations are also opposed to the government’s decision to hand over schools to communities. Hundreds of teachers turned up at respective DEOs, reports from various parts of the country said. Administrative works at the DEOs of Chitwan, Bhaktapur, Kavre, Ramechhap and many other districts were halted due to the protest. In Tanahun, hundreds of the primary and lower-secondary schools remained closed as teachers came to the district headquarters. Agitating teachers have threatened to boycott the upcoming SLC exams as well as all the trainings provided by the government. nepalnews.com mbk Feb 11 04 Related
News Parties announce rallies from Feb. 19 Five agitating political parties Wednesday announced fresh protest programs beginning February 19 onwards. Programs set for Thursday have however been withdrawn considering the bandh (closure) called by the Maoists. As per the new programs, rallies will be staged in different parts of the country on February 19 and after. A meeting of the Central People’s Movement Committee represented by central leaders of Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, United People’s Front, Nepal Workers’ and Peasants’ Party and Nepal Sadbhawana Party (Anandi Devi) made the decision. The committee in its statement has urged all the supporters of the ongoing movement to cooperate. Another meeting of the committee will come out with the details of the protest programs, it is learnt. nepalnews.com mbk Feb 11 04 Related
News ‘Maoist run their website from Canada’ The official website of the CPN-Maoist (www.cpnm.org) is hosted in Canada, a Spacetime Dainik report said Wednesday. The website is being run from a Canadian city since January 23, 2003. The Maoist website, reports said, was registered in Canada in Nutan Sharma’s name, a Nepali expatriate. The Maoists website is powered by www.insof.org, an internet server belonging to a Canadian company named Softcom Technology Consulting Inc, the report added. “Uploading of the Maoist website that has versions in French, Spanish and English became possible due to the servers outside the country. Barring some news, almost all the material is uploaded from outside,” the report quoted a anonymous source as saying. “If the government contacts the Canadian company not to host the Maoist website, it would stop doing so,” the report quoted the source as saying, adding that the website could be banned in Nepal by coordinating with the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country. nepalnews.com mbk 11 04 Govt.-teachers talks ends inconclusively The tenth round of talks between the Ministry of Education and Sports and teacher organizations on giving a permanent status to the temporary teachers working in public schools ended Monday without agreement. Reports Wednesday said the talks ended in failure as both the sides could not come to terms on the government’s offer to give permanent appointments to the teachers working before the time of introduction of Education Act in 2058 (2001) only through internal competitions. Representatives of teacher organizations are learnt to have brushed aside the proposal, saying it was humiliating. The future of tens of thousands of temporary teachers was pushed to uncertainty after the government, few months ago, made public the results of the teachers’ examinations taken a decade ago. Following this, five teacher organizations have been carrying out strikes demanding permanent status to the temporary teachers. Teacher organizations have also demanded that the government provide compensation to the families of the teachers victimized during the course of insurgency. nepalnews.com mbk Feb 11 04 Related
News Shailaja suggests three options to the King Senior leader of Nepali Congress, Shailaja Acharya Tuesday suggested the King choose one of three alternatives of forming an all-party government, declaring a general election or reinstatement of the dissolved parliament, published reports said Wednesday. Acharya, said this Tuesday issuing a press release. According to Acharya, the main responsibility lies with King Gyanendra to free the nation from the present crisis. Acharya added the present crisis must be addressed within the frame of the present constitution. “The proposal of drafting a new constitution makes the current situation ambiguous,” she said. She flayed the current polarization of politics into active monarchy and a republic, asking for an announcement of elections. Acharya said the nation will head towards disaster if the constitutional monarchy and multi-party system are weakened. nepalnews.com pd Feb 11 04 Related
News Students file writ against political parties, PM, Ministry and TU Students from different campuses on Tuesday filed a writ petition against the sister parties of the five agitating parties, Prime Minister, Ministry for Education and Sports and Tribhuvan University, Rajdhani daily reported. The students have leveled the charge on the parties of forbidding the right of students to study in the colleges. They have also accused the agitating parties of trying to play with the future of the students by disrupting the classes in the colleges. The students also flayed the government for failing in the effective implementation of its decision to keep educational institutions away from non-educational activities. In the writ, they have demanded an order that prohibits students from politicizing the education. Shanker Katuwal, Buddhi Prasad Acharya from Trichandra Campus and Madhav Prasad Nepal, Sita Sharma and Ranjana Dahal from Kirtipur Campus filed the writ. nepalnews.com rs Feb11 04 Maoists furious about the extradition of Yadav and Ale The Maoists on Tuesday expressed fury on the Indian Government for “They were arrested in a kidnapping style on Sunday in Lucknow and The statement also said that the Indian regime has effaced itself in the mind of the Nepali people from the hilly to the Terai region by their actions. Prachanda also appealed to human right activists, intellectuals, institutions and citizens of both the countries for security and release of the duo. A published report in the Kathmandu Post stated that responding to the hand over of the Maoists, First Secretary, Press, Information and “Under the arrangement, the two countries take appropriate action Related
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